The Pumpkin and the Bat
by Vida-chan
Summary: Gloyd is starting to feel a bit lonely, his pranks aren't as funny as before. After meeting with the other racers and their new pets, Gloyd Orangeboar decides to get one for himself and he did! But how would the others react when they see "it"? A story of how Gloyd and Spook meet!
1. Pet's Fair

Sugar Rush, a place full of candies, colors, flavors and racers of good quality.

The races there were the main and most entertaining event in the whole virtual world, alongside the graphics, scenery, the character's design and their abilities.

One of those racers was named Gloyd Orangeboar, the Halloween themed prankster boy. Known to being one of the fastest racers but sadly not the best at keeping his kart under control, which was a reason of why not many people choose him.

He was completely fine with it though, just because he doesn't get a change to race as much as the others do, that didn't mean he wasn't a good racer… _right?_

He shook his head, right now it wasn't time to think that, and there was something he wanted to see first.

Gloyd was walking towards a place which was updated in Sugar Rush pretty recently called "Pets Fair". The name explained enough that the place was full of different kinds of animals; it didn't matter if they were exotic or considered "dangerous" to keep because they were programmed to behave.

You may be wondering,_ WHY_ was Gloyd going there?

**_-A few hours back-_**

Gloyd was walking through the candy canes trees, glancing at the pink, taffy ground; planning a new prank to play on his friends.

Lately his pranks weren't as fun as before and that worried him a bit, with him being the best (_and only_) prankster in the whole arcade! Sometimes he could find himself sitting on the couch relaxing and not doing _anything_.

_And that freaked him a little bit._

He sighed, Gloyd didn't feel full of energy today and decided that maybe he needed a quick nap, he sat in next to a gumdrop and laid his head on it, ready to fall asleep.

When suddenly…

"Disco, no!" Screamed a girl's voice that made him jump, it was Snowanna. He groaned and looked up trying to see what was happening.

"Leave Lord Nuttingham Peterson Fluggerbutter III alone already!" Screamed Rancis shortly after.

'…Nuttingham Pierson WHAT?' Thought Gloyd clearly confused but decided to shrug it off and climbed a candy cane tree to have a better view.

He saw the two racers, indeed, and Swizzle, Vanellope and Creumbelina were there too… with their pets?

"How strange, I didn't know they had pets" Said Gloyd to himself and it was true, when he went to his friend's houses (Mostly to prank them) he never saw any animal there.

He suddenly noticed the source of the screams, there was a golden Persian cat being chased by an orange spoiled Poodle which, he guessed, where Rancis and Snowanna's pets. Luckily they hold their pets and sat away from each other.

"Every time we meet up in these 'Petnic' my poor Nuttingham is chased by your beast, Snowanna!" Said Rancis clearly in anger, Snowanna didn't seemed happy either and was about to protest, but Vanellope cut her "Calm down you too! It's not anyone's fault that cats and dogs don't' mix well!" She said, Gloyd noticed there was a white Rabbit in her hood.

"Mix well! Arck! Mix!" He turned his attention to the red Macaw on Swizzle's head, 'The Swizz' laughed a bit while Creumbelina caresses her Ferret's back.

Suddenly the macaw saw Gloyd and squawked, calling everyone's attention.

Swizzle looked up and noticed Gloyd, he waved his hand at him "Heya, dude! What are you doing up there?" Everyone turned around and Gloyd climbed down, walking towards the racers.

"You're planning another prank, aren't ya?" Vanellope asked, not very amused.

"I'm not '_Princess'_" He snickered when he saw Vanellope's frown "I came here because I heard screaming and wanted to check" He shrugged at the last part and sat

"I didn't know you guys had pets, though! Where did you even get them?" He asked, Swizzle's Macaw flapped its wings open and flew to Gloyd's side. He watched the multi-colored bird with a slight impressed look on his face.

"Cool, isn't it?" Said Swizzle chuckling, "You should get out more dude! There have been an upgrade on the plaza, there's a fair of pets!" He explained and Gloyd blinked.

"We got our pets not too long ago" Creumbelina said "And we decided to have a Picnic…" Vanellope glared at her and she signed

"Ok, a PETnic, point is that we meet here, eat and let our pets play together so they can know each other better" She said, caressing her Ferret some more.

"Is not a bad idea at all… mind if I join you guys?" Gloyd asked, and in fact he _was_ interested in this Petnic thingy.

"Well… do _YOU_ have a pet? If not then you can't join us" Said Rancis as if it was the simplest thing in the world, this bothered the prankster a bit but decided to calm down.

He _did_ thought of having a pet once, now is looked like a good change!

"Sooo… I get a pet, and then I can join you guys. It's just that?" He asked and everyone nodded, not really paying attention to him since they were playing with their animals, this bothered Gloyd too but decided leave instead.

"Alright then! I'll be leaving… err, Rancis?" He asked as he stands up.

"Hm?" Said the blonde and Gloyd gave him a confused look.

"What's with the long-ass name you gave to your pet?" He asked and smirked at Rancis reaction.

"Oh, for Gob's sake! Why does everyone ask the SAME!?" Everyone shared a quick laugh before the Halloween themed boy left.

* * *

The Pets Fair was pretty much what Gloyd had imagined, different kind of fair posts with all kinds of animals; exotic birds, deep sea-looking fishes, even horses and cows!

But Gloyd didn't want something HUGE, something little might do, and he was thinking of getting himself a black cat since it represented Halloween in a way… but he remembered the conflict between Rancis and Snowanna's pets.

'_I wouldn't like if my pet ends up fighting with the other's_' He thought and began to search for something else instead. Gloyd noticed there where, easily, more than 500 posts.

'_I might take my sweet time here… oh well_' He began to look in all the different posts, hoping to find a pet.

At the same time… a bit far away from Gloyd…

…was a little animal alone from everyone and everything, in fact, he was in a far post at the Fair's end; it wasn't even a _post_, it was a simple table that held the cage he was in.

He was watching the other pets hopelessly, looking how happy they were with their plates full of food, playing with some kids that wanted them as their new partner and receiving lots of affection… while he felt like starving since he hasn't eaten almost anything in two days, and people would get grossed out at the moment they catch a sight of him.

Why? He thought it was simple, those pets were cute fluffy cats, puppies, baby bunnies and all that stuff… while he was a bat, nothing else.

A plain, sad, lonely bat.

He was so deep in his thoughts that didn't notice the shadows in front of him and he looked up.

_Everyone could say the same exact things when they stood in front of the birdcage he was trapped in._

"Eww, it's so ugly!" Said a girl making grossed out sounds, which makes him to know this would begin for the _fourth time_ that day…

"Who leave that monster here!?" Said a boy and glared at the bat.

"Do you think someone would like to have a KILLER in their house?" The bat cringed at that, killer? He didn't even like to _drink_ blood! Why would they think-

"No one will love you" Said a boy in a very dry tone, catching the bat off guard, and then they left.

Silence filled the air; he glanced at the children who were walking away with their new pets in their arms. Their word's echoing in the bat's mind.

"You're_ so cute_!" A kitten meowed.

"We're gonna be _BFFs_!" A puppy barked.

"C'mon, _let's play~_" A mice squeaked.

And then they were out of sight.

_Lonely, sad and hurt_, the little bat couldn't hold it anymore… and began to cry, releasing several chirps sounds, tears rolling down his furry cheeks and falling on the cold birdcage's base.

_Why?_ Why is everything so_ unfair_? Why everyone seemed to _hate_ him?

_Did he even made anything wrong to begin with?_

He really didn't care anymore.

Ever since he got trapped and got inside the little prison that sadly was his 'house', he only wanted to have someone; a kid that wouldn't mind sharing a few laughs and good moments with him, that wouldn't mind calling the bat his or her friend… but that wasn't going to be possible, right?

He was starting to accept that maybe, he wasn't going to be loved after all…

* * *

Gloyd kept walking, and sadly he couldn't find anything that called his attention at all, there wasn't any pets that seemed like a good companion to him.

He was looking at some Beagle puppies, but shook his head and kept walking for a few minutes, passing by a big variety of domestic animals.

'_Seems like there's nothing else… too bad, maybe I should come tomorrow or something_' He thought and sighed.

Gloyd was about to leave but then, faint chirping sounds reached his ears; he turned around and spotted something at the end of the fair and went to see what it was.

As he got closer, he heard sobbing.

_'What in the…?'_ He shook his head and kept walking forward.

The closer he got, the stronger the sobs were and there was a point he was actually running to reach the now visualized golden birdcage.

Gloyd stood in front of it.

He saw something little, thin and grey, it was covering its eyes with its wings, sobbing quite loudly and shivering.

It was a bat.

Gloyd got a bit surprised of finding one here since he wasn't really expecting that.

Bats were very rare to find actually, and no one of them were found outside the Licorice Forest; a place so dark that made the black trees look even more creepier, and it was indeed Gloyd's favorite place; there was even a cemetery full of broken angel-like statues!

The bat's sobbing brought him back to reality, and he decided to hit the birdcage with the tip of his finger to call its attention, but the bat didn't dare to look at Gloyd.

The pumpkin boy bit his lower lip and then he remembered he was carrying a bag of candies (typical of him); he got them out of his pumpkin hat and took some candy corns.

Gloyd held the sweets in his hand and hit the birdcage again, carefully.

"Hey… little bat, you ok? Why are you crying?" He asked softly, the bat began to calm down a bit and sniffed, putting its wings down and began to open its eyes slowly.

The little animal suddenly looked at the candy corns in the boy's hand with shiny eyes, said boy smiled kindly to the bat.

"It's ok buddy, I'm not gonna hurt you" He offered the treats to the bat, and laughed when he saw how happy the bat seemed while eating them "I always say that candies are the best medicine when someone feels sad, don't you think?"

For his surprise, the bat nodded and looked at the boy with a little smile, Gloyd noticed how puffy the bat's eyes were; his smile faded a bit.

"How _long_ have you been crying?" He asked in a whisper, Gloyd suddenly spotted a paper next to the bat's cage, the words _'FREE BAT' _were written on it, giving the racer an idea of why the bat seemed so depressed in the first place.

"Oh…" He said and looked at the little animal; it was grabbing one of its long ears.

That's when Gloyd noticed how_ thin_ the bat was.

_'It's alone in a cage, crying, and hungry? How come nobody wants it?'_ He thought worriedly and kept looking at the bat, an idea popped up in his mind.

And then, he took the decision almost immediately.

"Hey, little buddy" The bat looked up a bit confused "Something tells me that you're really lonely, you know?" The bat nodded softly and Gloyd continued "And you seem pretty cute and nice…" Gloyd smiled a bit when the little animal lifted its ears, looking surprised.

He decided to finally say it.

"I think I like you… would you like to come with me?" He asked, putting one finger between two golden poles of the birdcage.

The bat looked shocked for a while.

Gloyd noticed it seemed like it wanted to cry and wondered if he said something wrong… but the Halloween boy soon smiled when the bat showed him a huge grin and held the boy's finger with the little black claws on its wings, making a sound that sounded like a giggle.

Gloyd laughed too and after a few minutes he opened the cage.

The bat flew out of the birdcage as soon as possible (and clumsily too) and landed on Gloyd's shoulder, wrapping its wings around the boy's head and nuzzling him.

The prankster noticed the bat seemed kind of grateful, he pat its head and hold the bat close to his chest.

"Looks like you really wanted to get out, huh?" Gloyd said smiling and the bat answered with a chirp, snuggling closer. He chuckled "Let's go, bud. I think you should get yourself a bath"

And with that last thing told, they left the empty birdcage with the bat's sad memories behind.

* * *

Both of them reached a place in which the newly adopted pets were given a bath and dressed with an accessory to match them with their owner. Gloyd remembered he had to choose a name for his new partner too.

At the moment the little bat was being washed, the Halloween themed boy went to see the different kinds of accessories… which were a heck lot of them.

'Rancis and Creumbelina must have enjoyed themselves here…' Thought Gloyd while looking at some scarves, he wanted to give something special to the little bat; Gloyd just met him a few minutes ago and he already considered it a friend, he guessed the image of the little animal crying affected him somehow.

Suddenly he noticed something shiny under some hats and took it out, the boy smiled.

_That_ was the right thing for his new buddy to wear.

**_-Around fifteen minutes later…-_**

"Mr. Orangeboar?" Called a female voice "Your pet is ready and all clean!" Gloyd reached the counter, finding the bat eating a lollipop happily.

"He seemed very thin and got us worried… I hope you don't mind" Said the gummy bear girl patting the bat's head.

'_It's a he? Cool_' Thought Gloyd smiling, he already got an accessory for his furry friend and pretty much a name too!

"Don't worry, I was about to feed him too…" He said while picking the bat in his arms, the little animal snuggled deeper in the boy's chest, looking really comfortable. The gummy bear girl squeaked at the cute scene while Gloyd blushed in embarrassment, but he couldn't blame the bat.

He sat in a chair and tickled the bat's stomach, making the animal to move his little feet in the air and emitting a giggle-like sound. Gloyd smiled.

"I got you something, wanna see it?" He asked and the bat nodded.

Gloyd took out a paper bag out of his pumpkin hat and opened it, noticing how curious the bat seemed about the item hidden in the bag, the racer smiled at the bat's curiosity and finally took out the object; a tiny golden crown with a big, fake candy corn on the center, there was also an 'S' in the middle of the crown.

The bat flapped his wings cheerfully over and over and Gloyd smiled again, noticing how much the bat liked his gift.

The prankster put the crown on the left side of his pet's head, who chirped and bounced with joy.

"Glad you like it… Spook?" He said and the bat chirped some more, liking the name his new master gave him.

'_Spook it is then_' Gloyd thought and began to feed the bat, Spook needed to win some weight before meeting the others after all.


	2. Two Lonely Friends

After feeding his new bat friend, Gloyd went straight to his kart the Kernel and drove off to Licorice Forest, being careful of not driving too fast in case Spook wouldn't like the speed; said bat was sitting on the boy's lap, chirping a little melody that cheered Gloyd's mood up without any special reason.

After some time driving, they reached their destiny; a small prairie full of sugar flowers and red licorice sticks hanging from the tall trees.

He was facing the base of a cliff, which was made of chocolate cake, with his candy corn kart and began to look around to make sure no one was around.

Licorice Forest is the most mysterious place in Sugar Rush, mainly because it was a forest inside the cliff, hidden just like Vanellope's old home; Licorice trees couldn't grew in the light so them alongside the night time-looking ambient could send anyone shivers down their own spines.

Except Gloyd, that's it, he actually lived there.

Gloyd had to recognize the place was dangerous, though, lot of nocturnal creatures roamed thought the woods, mainly wolf-like animals. But he actually didn't mind them; they only attacked if one got too close to their offspring, food or territory.

Gloyd kept looking around; he hasn't told his friends where he actually lived at and wouldn't like them to find out. It would be too risky for them to see the place, even for Swizzle!

And that was saying something.

Spook looked at the cake wall really confused, still not getting why they where there in the first place. Gloyd caressed the bat's head when Spook turned to see him, like asking the boy what was going on.

"Don't worry buddy, I was just checking if the coast was clear" He smiled and drive straight to the wall, chuckling when he heard the bat's scared (but low) chirping sounds.

They went through the virtual wall and Spook looked really surprised.

"You weren't expecting this, huh?" Gloyd asked and laughed a bit, the bat shook his head and began to look around the place, clearly amazed.

There were black licorice trees everywhere, and they all had different shapes and sizes; some of them had small licorice sticks hanging from the branches, dripping a black fluid.

The road was covered by a mist as well as the whole forest, making it a bit hard for the bat to see, as well as making the tree's figures to blurry, this creating a truly bizarre sight of black and grey.

Luckily, for what it seemed, Gloyd knew the place as the palm of his hand.

Said prankster drove until they reached an abandoned and spooky-looking house, it was big but not like a mansion; and in some moment of its life, it was orange. The color was a strange looking brown tone while the roof tiles were a dark purple color

It had two floors for what it seemed and a big variety of windows; all of them were rectangular but had different dimensions and sizes, some of them were broken and one could see the ripped curtains through the dusty glasses. The door was big but had some visible scratches on it, and the door knob seemed a bit rusty.

Perfect place for a Halloween lover and a bat, indeed.

And Spook must have thought the same because he began to fly around the house with great speed (this impressed Gloyd), chirping loudly and cheerfully.

Gloyd laughed at his bat's enthusiasm and parked his kart, hoping out of it and walked to the door, he whistled and Spook landed on the boy's shoulder.

Gloyd opened the door and snickered as the bat began to chirp again, flapping his wings in fast movements by the sight right in front of him.

The inside was probably creepier than the outside; there were old paintings hanging in the walls, some of them had their glasses broken and some others were upside down, without mentioning they were abstract paints so no one could tell their meaning.

There was a huge chandelier hanging in the ceiling; some of its lights were gone and the big part, broken. It's sideways were also irregular, giving the feeling it would fell in any moment.

The living room only had a couch for two persons with a few claw marks on it, a coffee table with a leg being replaced by a rock, a simple dark orange rug under it that seemed in an almost perfect state and a TV being held by a little table, which was full of spider webs between the legs.

On the right side of the living room was the kitchen, which seemed to be the biggest room in Gloyd's house; the walls were old but one could still see the once bright yellow paint on them, the table had two seats and (luckily) all of them had their wooden legs almost intact, there was a big and slightly rusty fridge, an oven and all the kitchen-like dispositive were next to the fridge.

There were also some shelves with books, and by the fact they were covered with dust and a few spider webs the bat knew that Gloyd never bothered in reading them, Spook snickered at that thought.

On the left side, Spook could see stairs that lead to the second floor, some steps seemed broken but not seriously damaged at all, and they were covered by a long, grayish-green rug.

"My room is up there, wanna see it?" Asked Gloyd and the bat nodded quickly, the boy smiled.

"You go up first! I will bring some treats" He said and headed to the kitchen while Spook flew to the second room. He reached a table that was in the corridor and looked around.

In the middle of the hall was the bathroom, whichseemed as good as new.

At the end of the corridor was a door with a pumpkin draw on it, the orange words "TRICK OR TREAT?" made with paint spray above it, the bat guessed it was the boy's bedroom. The door didn't have anything like cracks or rotten wood compared to other doors, and for his luck it was open.

Spook pushed the door and entered, the room's floor looked as good as new but the walls didn't, the pumpkins-and-bats black wall paper was a bit ripped in places, and others places were affected by the wetness of the forest's environment.

The bed was little but seemed comfortable enough; it had a white blanket with lots of candy corns printed on it and a normal sized, puffy orange pillow.

Spook flew to said pillow and snuggled on it, letting a little, happy chirp as he made himself comfortable. The bat was able to smell Gloyd's pumpkin-like scent on the pillow.

His ears caught the sound of someone coming upstairs and he looked up, smiling when he saw his new master, who was carrying a plate full of chocolate chips cookies.

"Seems you liked my bed huh?" Gloyd asked amused when he found the bat on his pillow, Spook chirped and nodded.

The Halloween boy sat next to his pet, he put the cookies between them and offered one to the little animal, who took the cookie with a smile and began to eat it. Gloyd noticed it was interesting to see the bat eating, Spook ate the cookie by giving it lots of little but fast bites, just like rodents.

"I'm glad you liked my home; nobody ever came here, you know... and I really wouldn't like anyone to find this place" He said as he bit his own treat, the candy bat looked at him a bit confused.

Gloyd continued "I mean… you see, I know some guys and their houses…" The prankster looked around his room "…are WAY better than this old place; can't argue with that after all, I took the decision to live here because the forest itself is cool but…" He sighed "I can't help but feel a bit jealous about it; they have a nice place and can share with many people, while I'm here all by myself" He finished, suddenly he looked at his bat and Spook was looking at him with slightly wide eyes with and a worried expression.

Gloyd understood something as soon as he saw the bat's face.

"You… know that feel, don't you buddy?" He asked in a whisper, Spook nodded and his gaze fell on the candy corn blanket. Gloyd sighed again, his gaze fell too but for a short period of time; he took the little bat into his arms and carefully hugged him.

Spook looked at his master worriedly, he snuggled back trying to cheer up Gloyd a bit, and said boy smiled and caressed the bat's back.

They stayed like that for a few minutes in silence, until Gloyd finally broke it.

"I'm fine, don't worry" Gloyd said and lifted Spook with his arms "Lately I have been feeling kinda lonely… maybe that was the reason I wanted a pet to being with" He confessed.

Gloyd never thought of it before; he always looked like a happy and full of energy character among the others, one that liked to have as much fun as possible and not being boring at all; but that was only back at Sugar Rush, when he was racing and pulling pranks on others.

But every time he was back in his house, away from the cheerful, sugar-coated atmosphere and the others racers, he was left alone; no one to prank or have fun with, no one to talk to, he just stayed in his home in deep silence and hated that, he truly did.

Why hasn't he noticed it before? The Licorice Forest was the perfect place for him to live because of the creepy looks it had, but what was the point of having such a cool place for yourself if no one is there to spend time with?

Gloyd sighed and put the bat on his lap, Spook didn't knew what to do in order to help his master, the bat looked at the cookies and decided to give one to Gloyd.

The boy looked at the bat before smiling and taking the cookie, he pat the bat's head and Spook chirped lowly.

Suddenly the bat flew to Gloyd's head, kicking the pumpkin hat off. The boy was about to protest but Spook landed on Gloyd's head, snuggling himself with the prankster's hair softly.

Gloyd understood what the bat tried to do, Spook was comforting him.

The prankster smiled softly and put his hand over the little animal's torso.

"Really, Spook, I'm fine" His grin got bigger "After all… you're here with me now"

Spook's ears lifted up at the last think the boy said, smiling with joy, happy to know he was being useful to the prankster.

The bat began to chirp a melody, the one that he played back at the road, and Gloyd began to laugh.

"You sure know how the cheer up someone!" He said, Spook sat on Gloyd's lap "Thanks, bud" He said smiling wide. Spook returned the smile while he was singing.

Gloyd kept listening to his pet for a long while. The song had a relaxing effect on him. Spook finished his song and chirped at his master.

He caressed to bat's head and turned to see the clock on his wall, 21:35; he hadn't noticed how fast time passed and decided to go to bed.

"I think we need to sleep, it's going to be a heavy day tomorrow…" Gloyd said to Spook, the bat nodded.

* * *

After a shower and a few treats for the 'Sweet dreams', Gloyd put his black-and-orange striped pajamas and hopped to his bed, covering himself with the warm bed sheets and laying his head on the fluffy pillow.

He was about to fall asleep when he felt something moving next to his feet, he lifted the blanket and found Spook looking at him with his shining, golden eyes.

"Spook?" He said a bit confused, the bat moved to the boy's chest and cuddled, looking at Gloyd. "You.. want to sleep with me?" He asked and the bat nodded softly.

Gloyd smiled and covered the bat with the blanket, putting his hand behind the bat's head carefully.

"Good night buddy…" He whispered and Spook began to close his eyes, Gloyd noticed that maybe the bat got used to sleep in the night since the Pet's Fair closed its doors at night, not giving Spook a chance to interact with people at all.

The Halloween boy noticed the bat chirping quietly in his sleep, Gloyd kissed the bat's forehead and Spook seemed to relax.

Gloyd began to fall asleep again and went to join his partner in Dreamland.


	3. First Petnic!

The next days Gloyd would find himself playing and spending time with his bat partner very often; the two grew closer to each other every hour of the day, making the feeling of being together more enjoyable.

Sometimes they spend their time playing hide-and-seek in the cemetery by hiding behind the broken angel statues and racing each other between the licorice trees, or maybe they stayed at home, watching TV with a bag full of candy.

Spook was starting to look more happy and healthier too, the bat gained weight and he was improving his flying abilities, he looked in a very good shape and Gloyd was very happy about it too.

Thing is, they always stayed close, but _just_ in the _forest_; Gloyd hasn't show Spook to his friends, not only because Spook looked very weak before, but because Gloyd was worried.

What if they freaked out about him having a bat? Nobody seemed to love the bat when he was in that birdcage, back at the Pet's Fair, and Gloyd wasn't sure if the others would hurt the bat's feelings with a comment or two…

But there has to be a way to find it out, right?

He just had to wait for the right moment...

* * *

Gloyd was sleeping peacefully, until he felt something fell over his forehead softly. He opened his eyes and they were met by a happy bat's face, who chirped as to say 'Good morning!'

Gloyd smiled lazily and yawned "Morning, Spook…" He reached a hand to the bat's head and stroked his head, Spook leaned into the touch for a while and then he began to rub his cheeks against his owner's forehead.

"Ok, ok… I'm gonna get out of bed…" Grumbled Gloyd, but he wasn't angry or anything, just sleepy. The Halloween boy went to take a quick shower, he dressed up and when to have breakfast with his pet. He was pouring some cereal in his bowl when he noticed Spook looking at him, with a slightly worried expression.

"What is it, bud?" Asked Gloyd, Spook pointed to the clock without looking at Gloyd and he looked up.

The arcade was going to be open in ten minutes.

**_FUDGE._**

_Without_ taking his eyes _off_ the clock, Gloyd closed the cereal box, poured the milk, mixed everything, put the bowl on his lips and drank everything in a matter of _five_ seconds.

Then, he ran off to the door, leaving the empty bowl spinning in the table and cloud of dust behind "**OHFORTHELOVEOFSUGAR!I'MGONNABELATE!I'MGONNABELATE!I'MGONNA-**… Oh" He stopped dead his tracks, returned to the kitchen and gave Spook a little hug, then he left again.

"Bye Spook! Don't leave the house until I get back!" He called when he reached the door, Gloyd got in his kart and drove off.

Spook watched him as the boy left the forest, the bat chirped quietly; he hated when the boy left the house because silence would fill every corner. The bat decided to go to his owner's room and he reached the bed, he nuzzled the pillow and was able to smell Gloyd's pumpkin scent.

Spook smiled a bit and fell asleep, smelling the familiar scent all the time.

* * *

The races that day weren't that bad for the prankster; he just crashed a few times and got hit with Sweet Seekers twice, but at the end he ended in 3th or 4th places, and that was something hard for him to achieve!

When the arcade closed, Gloyd decided to check his kart and noticed nothing seemed seriously damaged. He was about to leave when he heard a whistle, turning around he spotted Swizzle a few meters away, waving his arm at him.

Gloyd waved back and 'The Swizz' got to his side "Dude! Some good races we got, don't ya think?" He said with his usual smirk.

"You bet! The kids I got sure knew what they were doing" Said Gloyd, looking back at the bronze cups he got with a smile, the cups were ok as long as they were trophies, without to mention that Gloyd would hardly win one because of his stats; he was the fastest racer, but not the best with driving skills, and his high Sweetness level didn't help much when he tried to avoid the Seekers.

"Ya sure looked happy today back at the racing" Swizzle snickered "By the way, dude. The girls are planning a Petnic at the same place you saw us last time at 20:00, wanna come?" He asked and Gloyd nodded.

"Sure! It's about time you meet my pet. You see, he wasn't in the best shape when I got him so I decided to take care of him first…" He explained to his best 'racer' friend, since Spook was his best 'animal' friend, and Swizzle waved his hand in front of Gloyd, smiling.

"It's ok! If that was the case that hold ya back for showing up, then I can forgive ya, even when it's not necessary" 'The Swizz' laughed.

Gloyd began to laugh too, and after a chat and some cracking jokes, the Halloween themed boy left to his house. He was a bit excited about the Petnic, but he needed to tell Spook first since he wasn't sure if the bat would be alright with the idea. The bat might not be ready or wouldn't like to meet other animals, but Gloyd still needed to ask him.

When he arrived home and left the cups in a shelf of his living room, he called his bat partner but got no answer, he went to check in the kitchen just to find it deserted.

"Maybe he is in the second room…" Said Gloyd mostly to himself, he went upstairs and went to his room, he opened the door carefully and found the little bat sleeping peacefully on his pillow.

Gloyd smiled and went to the bat's side; he began to shake the bat carefully "Spook? Hey, wake up~" He said softly, Spook began to move and opened his eyes.

The bat looked up and chirped with joy when he saw his master; he fled to Gloyd's shoulder and nuzzled him. Gloyd smiled and nuzzled back.

"Missed me?" He asked and snickered, putting the bat on his bed and Gloyd sat next to him "Oh yeah! I got you some treats" Said the prankster and began to roam through his pumpkin hat, taking several lollipops and chocolates out of it.

Spook began to bounce in the bed and began to eat, Gloyd watched him in amusement and remembered what he needed to ask.

"Hey, bud…" Gloyd began; Spook looked up at him holding a chocolate bar between his claws "I was wondering... would you like to meet other people and their pets?" He asked softly, Spook put a claw under his chin and remained quiet for a while; Gloyd decided to continue "Look, I can understand if you are scared about meeting new people, but I know those guys and I can trust most of them. I wouldn't be asking this to you if I knew they meant any treat, after all." Spook looked at him again.

"Besides, if you don't want to hang out with their pets… then it's fine! You can stay by my side… err, if you want to go of course" He shrugged "I'm not really forcing you to go… so, what do you say?" He asked and looked at the bat.

Spook remained quiet for a while longer, but then smiled softly and nodded "You sure?" Asked Gloyd to make sure the bat was ok with his choice, Spook nodded again "Awesome sauce! We'll leave in two more hours, in the mean time, let's finish these treats!" Said the prankster with joy and they began to eat.

* * *

After eating the candies, playing around the forest, eating more candies, having a quick nap and some more candies, the duo of friends hopped to the Kernel and drove to the cliff where everyone was already at.

Gloyd parked his kart and hopped out of it, Spook was hidden under the boy's hat since the bat actually liked to be there; Gloyd took out a bag of candy corn and bottle of soda since he actually had to bring some cooperation for the Petnic.

"Ok… here we are" He said "Ready Spook?" Gloyd heard his bat's chirp and began to walk towards the group; Snowanna noticed him first and waved her arm.

"Heya dude!" Said Swizzle when he turned around and Gloyd sat next to him, Vanellope looked around.

"Where's your pet?" She asked, her bunny pet was in her hood and hopped out of it, sitting next to her owner "Whipcream got a bit excited when I told her about someone new joining us" She said and patted her pet.

"He's under my hat" Gloyd said and everyone looked at him funnily "What? He's a bit shy, you know?" The Halloween themed boy removed his hat slowly but out it back on.

"Before I show him to you guys, let me tell you something first" He began "My pet isn't going to hurt you, your pets or anything like that, just wanted to keep that clear"

"Waaait a minute" Said Rancis "Just what you got to yourself, Orangeboar?" He asked, not in a very amused tone since he wasn't feeling ok with Gloyd's pet already. The prankster crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"I got myself a Black Willow, that's why I'm telling you" He said simply and cracked one eye open, watching the freaked expression on everyone's face, he began to laugh "C'mon guys! How could I bring something like that in the very first place?" He said snickering and the rest of the guys sighed relieved, some of them sounding a bit angry.

"Just show you pet already!" Said Vanellope in a pretty demanding tone, Gloyd rolled his eyes.

"Fine! Geez…" He lifted his hat a bit from the front.

Slipping through the little space like a cat, Spook came out of his hiding spot and landed carefully in the boy's lap.

Everyone stared.

"Gloyd… isn't that…?" Swizzle began.

"…The bat that was in the birdcage?" Snowanna finished, both Gloyd and Spook cringed a bit.

"Well… _yeah!_ Um, you see…" The boy began, a bit nervous already.

Until he heard snickers, then giggling and finally, his friends were laughing!

_What the **fudge**?_

"Hey! Don't laugh!" Said Gloyd angered "Is not my fault that I didn't want some boring lazy dog or something like that as a pet!" He snarled and everyone got a bit quiet.

"Is not that, you pumpkin head!" Said Vanellope still snickering "It just that your expression was priceless!" She said and everyone agreed, getting a confused look from Gloyd.

"In fact, I'm kind of relieved you adopted it" Said Creumbelina "By the time I saw him, I already had my pet and sadly didn't wanted another" She explained.

"Same here" Said Rancis with an uninterested tone of voice.

"I didn't know got to take care of bat so I decided to adopt Ty-Dye instead" Admitted Swizzle petting his macaw.

"Sour bill told me to get something little that didn't flew around the place or had enormous teeth and all that stuff" Said Vanellope, her rabbit bouncing next to her.

"And me, well… you know, I only like things that has to do with 70s" Said Snowanna a bit ashamed "How's it called anyways?" She asked smiling at Spook; the bat chirped a happy tune and everyone laughed a bit, except Rancis.

"His name is Spook! I'm glad you guys liked him, since I thought nobody wanted him back at the fair…" He said and pat the bat's head.

"Oh yeah, come to think of it, I think sometimes people would treat him bad because of him being a bat and, you know, by that fact bats **drinks blood**?" Said Rancis putting emphasis on the 'drink blood' part, he clearly didn't want some foul creature to attack his_ wonderful_ pet!

Gloyd got a bit offended "He only eats candy, _stale_ peanut butter" He spat the last part and Rancis was about to remark but Swizzle cut him.

"Rancis, dude! You can't just say that, we saw Spook for like, 2 minutes and you're already calling him a monster! Not cool man" The Swizz said and Rancis huffed.

"Well, whatever you two!" Said the president "Let just introduce our pets, mines here is called Whipcream" The white rabbit made a back flip and bounced happily, Spook kept staring at the little animal, noticing she was actually cute…

"Mines called Disco!" Snowanna said, Disco barked and moved his back side as if he was dancing. Spook had to hold a snicker.

"My pet here is Cocoa" Creumbelina hold her ferret and Cocoa nodded, Spook noticed she seemed quite nice and elegant.

"My macaw is called Ty-Dye dude! And he is the fastest flyer around!" Said Swizzle with pride and the macaw puffed his chest, Spook rolled his eyes but smiled.

"And mine is…" Rancis got cut by Vanellope "PLEASE don't say his whole name!" She begged and so others did.

"_Oh for the love of…!_ Alright..." He coughed "His name is Lord Nuttingham" He said in a cocky tone of voice and the cat sat looking uninterested at Spook, the bat didn't liked him already; the cat and his owner acted like if they were kings or something like that.

"Well, I guess they should play a bit! To know each other better" Creumbelina said and put Cocoa on the floor, the Ferret walked away with the other pets behind of her… except Spook, the bat looked at the group of animals a bit worriedly. They looked so cool! Would they even like him?

"Calm down, little buddy" Said Gloyd, snapping the bat out of his thoughts "Just try! You can always come back to me in case you don't like them" The bat nodded, nuzzled his master on the cheek and carefully approached the other pets.

"Ok! Now… Who wants rainbow cake?" Asked Vanellope and everyone raised their hands.

* * *

Hope you enjoy this chapter! Next _might_ be the last one, please keep looking for it! :3


End file.
